ElfQuest Fan Art

I like the soft, shaded quality of these!

My extreme sympathies on the wrist.    I broke my right wrist 2 winters ago, and had an enforced 2 and a half months off from drawing.  I remember it vividly, and I haaaaated it.  I hope you're getting back in the feel of things!  Just be a little patient with yourself.  It was scary to me how long it took normal movement to come back (not "long" as in "several more months", but by the point I got the last cast off, I was impatient!  I don't know if you're going through some similar issues with your sprain, but I had to have surgery, and went through some periods of intense fear that I wouldn't get back full range of movement.  The hardest thing was waiting for the swelling to go down.)

Thank you, Eregyrn; I read your comment quite carefully and enthusiastically. I can't seem to find anyone that has sprained/broken a wrist (only ankles) so no one could offer me any advice and I was so frustrated! I admit I wasn't good to myself when I did sprain it because I was on vacation SCUBA diving on Bon Aire and I waited to see a doc or treat it until I got back. I didn't want to have a doc cancel my dive plans or confine me to the bungalow, so...Anyway, I wound up having to wear a brace for almost 3 months and occasionally having to traverse Lortab land (for pain management - wall to wall pupils!); I only recently stopped wearing the brace to work. I still have trouble typing, writing, drawing, and driving (did you have trouble driving?). Typing brings back the pain and rapid snapping of the joint, I have spasms when I draw or write, and driving is a new adventure in pain. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever have that brace off, and I can't help but wonder when the pain will go away.

Hah, driving!  I own a stick-shift.  I couldn't drive at all until the cast came off, either.  Besides finger movement, the biggest problems I had were rotation and bending of the wrist (neither, still, is back 100%, but they're back enough for most things).  The only thing they gave me for pain-management, though, was suggesting that I take both Tylenol and ibuprofen at the same time!

I think that if you're able to go back and see a doctor about it, you should.  And if you're able to get any physical therapy covered, do it.  I did twice-weekly visits to a PT through June of that year (and the cast came off in mid-March).   The best things about PT (which of course I hated at the time!) were that the therapist is able to bring better angles and strength to bear on the affected part than you are, so she was able to manipulate and massage to help push it a bit (and since she can't feel it, she also tends to push it more than you might yourself; but she also has a better idea of how far is too far); and to give exercises to keep doing that I probably wouldn't have thought of myself.

I was driving and typing and drawing again long before I stopped going to PT.  In fact, I think I was doing all those things around the time I *started* PT. But I think it helped me feel assured that it was all healing properly, and possibly accelerated the process.

All the drawing I did for about the next month was done by sketching and then finishing with a black pencil, rather than inking, because I didn't feel my hand was steady enough for inks.

This is very nice! I especially love Coldtouch.

About those pain meds -- if it gets bad enough, it won't kill you to take them this once, you know! *grin* I'm the same way, but I know when it gets bad enough to take pain pills. Just DON'T take them to be able to draw pain-free -- you might end up masking pain that's there in the first place to keep you from aggravating the injury. *hugs* I hope your wrist is better soon!!

Razzle: Oh, I'd never take meds just to draw or make it through work. Health comes first, all else can wait. I just don't like to take the meds because I have zero drug tolerance and one of those suckers can have me flat on my back for at least a couple of days. Hate that feeling. But, when you're in that much pain, that is the lesser of two evils. I managed to survive without taking anything, and at the moment, my wrist is much better. And thank you for your comment; Coldtouch came out close to what I had imagined her, Ledgemark I still need to work with.

Treefox: Thank you. Nasty wrist! Looks like I'll have to do more sketches. I've started a few, mostly facials to ease back into it. Hopefully I'll have some new material to post soon.